Sesame Street: 1,2,3 Stay Away Mosquitoes teaches families to be safe

As we get into the Fall season, many families are looking forward to cooler weather and the changing of the leaves. What we're not looking forward to is mosquito season! To help families prepare Sesame Street and SC Johnson have teamed up for 1, 2, 3 Stay Away Mosquitoes, which teaches families about mosquito bites and how to prevent them.

The 1, 2, 3 Stay Away Mosquitoes, which features Muppet friends Grover, Ernie, The Count and Rosita, provides free content to children and caregivers with tips to avoid potentially disease-carrying mosquitoes, as well as information about the benefits of wearing protective clothing and repellent.

To learn more the 1, 2, 3 Stay Away Mosquitoes and how it can help families, I interviewed Cynthia Barron, VP of U.S. Social Impact.

Onica {MommyFactor}: What made Sesame Workshop/Sesame Street come up with the 1,2,3 Stay Away Mosquitoes program?

Cynthia Barron: We actually started the program down in Latin America, and then we became more aware overall about mosquitoes borne illness. I think Sesame Workshop/Sesame Street always take the approach of teaching every day habits. So talking about protecting yourself against mosquitoes is just as if you would put sun screen on when you go out. It's an every day practice and having that for the whole family during this mosquito season.

Onica {MommyFactor}: How did Sesame Workshop/Sesame Street decided what needed to be highlighted in this PSA message?

Cynthia Barron: With everything that Sesame Street address, we just thought this message should be fun and engaging. Not making it a scary issue. We made these two video moments. One with a park ranger squirrel and Grover. We had a lot of fun picking out the protective clothing for Grover. There's also a comedic undertone to it around wearing protective clothing.

And then the second video with Count, Erine and Grover again about applying bug repellent and having adults help you with the proper way to put that on.

There's also additional content on the Sesame Street site including children's activities and simple tips for parents on how to protect children from mosquitoes.

Cynthia Barron: The SC Johnson Company has actually made a large commitment, 15 million dollars around mosquito prevention education. So this is really in connection with their community education component within the larger company. SC Johnson has funded this mosquito prevention initiative but it is not related to any product.

After seeing our PSA program in Latin America, primarily Brazil with the upcoming Olympics, SC Johnson and other health organizations had reached out to us. We knew that mosquitoes move and it was becoming more of an issue in the USA so we wanted to make an educational program around that issue.

After speaking with Sesame Street, I then spoke with a SC Johnson representative who shared,

“Consumer education about how to avoid bites is a critical part of preventing mosquito-borne diseases,” said Fisk Johnson, Chairman and CEO of SC Johnson. “It’s wonderful to partner with Sesame Workshop, a trusted voice for children and parents for decades.

Whether the concern is Zika or other mosquito-borne diseases, this information will help families protect themselves. The people of SCJ are so proud to be a part of this effort.”

As a family company, SC Johnson believes in having a positive impact on communities and is dedicated to improving the health and well being of people locally and globally. As an example, this year SC Johnson has pledged to provide up to $15 million to help protect families against mosquitoes and mosquito-borne diseases.

SC Johnson also built a special section on their website with videos, fact sheets and a lot of tips. For consumers who have questions, they can visit - www.scjohnson.com/mosquitoes